Updated American Standard Version
Giving Bible readers what God said not what translators think God meant
The Damascus Pentateuch, also known as the Codex Sassoon 507, is a 10th-century Hebrew Bible codex that is regarded as one of the most important and valuable manuscripts of the Hebrew Bible. This article provides an overview of the significance, history, and physical characteristics of the manuscript, including its importance in Jewish and biblical studies, the Masoretic Text, and the illuminated decorations.
In the spring of 1947, a Bedouin shepherd threw a stone into a cave, marking an event that would be heard around the world, making the name “Dead Sea Scrolls” more known than any other associated with archaeology.
Texts and versions provide the raw materials for the discipline known as textual criticism. The ultimate aim is to provide a text in the form intended by its author. Generally speaking, the greater the age of a document, the greater is its authority.
The Old Testament, the inspired Word of God, how was it copied, maintained as to the textual reliability, and handed down throughout the past three thousand five hundred years?
The Habakkuk Commentary or Pesher Habakkuk, labeled 1QpHab (Cave 1, Qumran, pesher, Habakkuk), was among the original seven Dead Sea Scrolls discovered in 1947 and published in 1951.
Please Support the Bible Translation Work of the Updated American Standard Version (UASV)$5.00Click here to purchase. The Isaiah Scroll, designated 1QIsaa and also known as the Great Isaiah Scroll, is one of the seven Dead Sea Scrolls[1] that were first discovered by Bedouin[2] shepherds in 1946 from Qumran[3] Cave 1.[4] The scroll is written in Hebrew and contains the entire Book of Isaiah from beginning to end, apart... Continue Reading →
BEFORE the discovery of the cache of Hebrew scrolls in the Dead Sea caves in 1947, aside from a few fragments, our Hebrew Old Testament manuscripts were from the late 9th to the 11th century C.E. That is but a mere thousand years ago when the original thirty-nine Hebrew Old Testament Bible books date from 2,500 to 3,500 years ago. Does this mean that prior to 1947, textual scholars and translators were uncertain about the Hebrew Bible that lies behind our English Old Testament? No, there was the most important Hebrew manuscript, which is called the Keter, the “Crown,” that originally contained all the Hebrew Scriptures, or the “Old Testament.”
The Dead Sea Scrolls are perhaps the greatest archaeological discovery of the present century. The seven scrolls were found by a Bedouin in a cave near the northwestern shore of the Dead Sea, in 1947.
How do paleographers place an accurate date on very old ancient Hebrew Old Testament Bible manuscripts? In 1948, this was the problem that was before Dr. John C. Trever (1916 - 2006) was a Biblical scholar and archaeologist, who was involved in the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls. When Dr. Trever first laid eyes on the Dead Sea Scroll of Isaiah, he pondered just this question.
The Leningrad Codex is the oldest complete manuscript of the Hebrew Bible in Hebrew, using the Masoretic Text and Tiberian vocalization. It is dated 1008 CE (or possibly 1009).